Horseshoe manufacture

ABSTRACT

A horseshoe comprises a U-shaped body member made of resilient material and having an upstanding projection at each of its free ends for fitting into corresponding pockets in the hoof with the horseshoe being additionally secured to the hoof by nails.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No.762,394, filed Jan. 26, 1977 and now U.S. Pat. No. 4,116,278 issuedSept. 26, 1978.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

This invention relates to improvements in horseshoe manufacture and morespecifically to the type of manufacture with which aforesaid U.S. Pat.No. 4,116,278 relates.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

A resilient U-shaped horseshoe includes projections or tabs at its freeends for fitting into the corresponding pockets in a hoof with the shoeadditionally secured by nails spaced around the U-shaped body memberincluding the bight so as to permit flexing of the shoe without thenecessity for providing any hinges to compensate for any expansion orcontraction of the hoof thereby maximizing foot comfort and stabilizingthe heel area.

The U-shaped body member may have a completely planar upper surfacewithout any rim. Alternatively rim portions may be provided at spacedlocations along the outer edge of the body member or a continuous rimmay be provided along the entire outer edge extending inwardly andupwardly toward the inner edge.

If desired, an adhesive may be applied to the upper surface of the bodymember to further secure the horseshoe to the hoof.

THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a horseshoe illustrating various ramificationsof this invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a horseshoe in accordancewith one form of this invention; and

FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view illustrating another form of thisinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

This invention relates to the horseshoe invention techniques describedin the aforesaid U.S. Pat. No. 4,116,278, the details of which areincorporated herein by reference thereto.

The aforesaid patent illustrates a horseshoe which includes projectionsfor fitting into corresponding pockets in a hoof. The illustratedembodiment further includes an upstanding rim portion and discloses theshoe as being adhesively secured to the hoof. Disclosure is also made,however, of the possibility of securing the shoe by means ofconventional nails. This application is concerned with the latterpractice.

FIG. 1 illustrates a shoe 10 in the form of a body member 12 having apair of free ends 14, 16. Each free end is provided with a tab orprojection 36 for fitting a corresponding pocket in the hoof. Asindicated in the aforesaid patent, the shoe may also include acontinuous upstanding rim or wall 20 which extends from one free end tothe other along the outer edge of the shoe upwardly and inwardly towardthe inner edge. FIG. 1 illustrates a portion of wall 20.

FIG. 2 illustrates a particularly advantageous embodiment of thisinvention due to its simplified form. In this embodiment, the shoe issecured to the hoof by a plurality of nails 38 spaced around the shoeincluding the bight portion. In this simplified form, the shoe isrimless and it is not necessary to further include any adhesive to aidin the securement. Accordingly, the shoe need not include any liner.

FIG. 3 illustrates further possible practices of this invention. Asindicated therein, the shoe includes at least one rim portion. Morespecifically, the illustrated embodiment shows rim portions 20A at eachfree end thereof and rim portion 20B at the bight. If desired, the shoemay include all three rim portions or only the end rim portions 20A oronly the bight rim portion 20B or rim portions arranged in any othermanner at any other locations. Again the shoe would be provided withspaced holes 39 for receiving nails 38 which penetrate the planar uppersurface 41 of body member 12.

If desired, auxiliary securing means such as adhesive material and lacematerial may also be provided in combination with any of theaforedescribed embodiments in the manner described in U.S. Pat. No.4,116,278

What is claimed is:
 1. A horseshoe comprising a U-shaped body memberterminating in a pair of free ends, said U-shaped body member having atoe portion at its bight and heel portions at said free ends withquarter portions therebetween, said body member being made of resilientmaterial capable of being distorted out of its normal undistortedcondition, said body member having an outer edge and an inner edge witha generally planar upper surface therebetween, an upstanding pocketformed at each of said free ends, each upstanding pocket comprising anupstanding projection at said inner edge and an upstanding inwardlyinclined wall at said outer edge with said planar upper surfacetherebetween for receiving a corresponding portion of the heel of thehoof, each of said projections extending upwardly above said planarsurface for fitting in corresponding pockets in the hoof, each of saidprojections having an inner wall disposed adjacent the space betweensaid free ends, each of said projections having an outer wall betweenits inner wall and said outer edge of said body member on its free end,each of said outer walls being inclined from said planar surfaceupwardly and outwardly away from said outer edge of said body member atits free end, said projections being connected to each other solely bytheir common mounting on said resilient body member whereby the spacingbetween said projections is determined by the location of the pockets inthe hoof, each of said upstanding walls being located directly oppositeits said projection with substantially the entire length of its saidprojection being opposite a corresponding length portion of its saidwall, a plurality of spaced nail holes extending through said bodymember including said toe portion and said quarter portions, and saidouter edge of said body member being free of said upstanding walls atsaid toe portion and said quarter portions where said nail holes arelocated whereby the nails secured through said holes may penetrate saidupper surface of said body member and the hoof without contacting anupstanding wall for cooperating with said projections and said walls insecuring said horseshoe to the hoof and for cooperating with theresilient material for permitting said horseshoe to flex during anyexpansion or contraction of the hoof for maximizing foot comfort andstabilizing the heel area of the hoof.